Justice for Beatriz, justice for all girls in Latin America and the Caribbean
The arrival of Beatriz's case at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights provides an opportunity to address the shortcomings of a structural system that does not guarantee girls and women the exercise of their rights and design public policies that provide access to abortion as a health service free of discrimination and violence.
Photo: Girls Not Brides
During the last weeks of March, the case of Beatriz against the State of El Salvador in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights united the Latin American movement in favour of the right to health, a life with dignity, and access to sexual and reproductive health for women and girls. Activists, collectives and various organisations followed the case and filled the streets with cries of hope in Costa Rica, where the hearing was held. This case was also accompanied by a virtual tidal wave - in almost all the countries of the region, #JusticiaParaBeatriz (Justice for Beatriz) topped the trending lists on various social networks and reached the pages of the largest digital media in Latin America.
Who was Beatriz and how can her story change the reality for girls and women in the region?
Beatriz was a young woman with lupus living in poverty in rural El Salvador. At the age of 19, Beatriz had her first pregnancy from which she suffered health complications that resulted in anaemia and aggravated her lupus. A year later, in 2013, she had a second pregnancy that was diagnosed as high risk, both for her and for the foetus, and it was determined that the foetus had no chance of living outside of the womb due to lacking a skull and a brain. According to medical recommendations, Beatriz had to terminate her pregnancy; however, the State of El Salvador refused to do so, despite the circumstances. Beatriz died shortly afterwards in an accident from which she did not recover due to her fragile health. Beatriz was denied timely medical attention and the right to make decisions about her own life.
El Salvador, as in Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname, has an absolute ban on abortion in any circumstances. In addition, the country has alarming figures for other violations of women's rights.
According to the Observatory of Gender Violence of the Organization of Salvadoran Women for Peace (ORMUSA), in 2021 this country registered at least 2,570 cases of sexual violence in girls and adolescents from 0 to 17 years old, 5,975 pregnancies in girls and adolescents between 9 to 17 years, 69% of which came from rural areas, and 425 people suffered spontaneous abortions due to obstetric complications, 50% of which were people living in cantons (rural districts bordering towns or cities) or in conditions of poverty.
In a region like Latin America and the Caribbean, where the adolescent pregnancy rate is the second highest in the world, women and girls not only have their right to health conditioned, but they also have limited access to live a dignified and healthy life. The physical effects of early pregnancies are already known; The World Health Organisation has stated that pregnant adolescents (10 to 19 years) have a higher risk of preeclampsia, endometritis, and systemic infections compared to women aged 20 to 24.
Why do we have to talk about this case? The link between child marriage and unwanted pregnancies
At Girls Not Brides, we believe that these restrictions on the health of girls and adolescents are closely related to the issue of Child, Early and Forced Marriages and Unions (CEFMU). The absolute criminalisation of abortion contributes to increased conditions of inequality, violence and lack of opportunities that result in 21% of women marrying or entering a union before the age of 18 years in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the case of El Salvador, this figure is 26% and increases to 60% for women who do not have access to primary education.
Adolescent pregnancies can be both a cause and a consequence of child, early and forced marriages and unions, because in contexts with conservative attitudes to sexuality, marriages or unions are considered a "solution" to preserve the "honour of the family” or as a way of coping with the economic and social consequences of said pregnancy.
In addition to endangering the health and physical and emotional integrity of girls, adolescent pregnancies limit their life plans and increase the burden of care work, which in turn increases their economic dependence and makes them vulnerable to other forms of violence within the home. In these cases, guaranteeing access to comprehensive sexuality education, and access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services for girls and adolescents contributes to generating more and better opportunities for them. The absolute decriminalisation of abortion offers an alternative when everything else has failed girls and adolescents in relation to their safety, sexual health and exercising of freedom over their bodies.
#JusticiaParaBeatriz is a case of Social Justice
It has become evidence that the approval of punitive policies limits the right that all women have to a dignified life, and control over their bodies and futures. They also do not eliminate the practice of abortion, but do limit access to this service in extreme conditions.
The arrival of Beatriz's case to the Inter-American Court provides an opportunity to address the shortcomings of a structural system that does not guarantee girls and women the exercise of their rights and the design of public policies that provide access to abortion as a health service free of discrimination and violence. This predominantly affects girls and young women in situations of poverty and marginalisation, leading them to experience unwanted pregnancies or child, early, or forced marriages or unions; and further deepening inequality, impoverishment and violence.
Ensuring justice for Beatriz means doing justice for all girls and women in El Salvador and the region, especially those that are underserved, those who lack economic resources and those who are marginalised and/or vulnerable.
The case of Beatriz against the State of El Salvador highlights how the absolute prohibition of abortion mainly affects women living in conditions of vulnerability and poverty. Access to safe abortions is further complicated in rural contexts, as well as in populations of indigenous or Afro-descendant origin, in addition to other circumstances such as the exclusion of girls and adolescents from education, as well as shortcomings in access to health services.
It also represents an opportunity to reverse the adoption of punitive legislation that deepens inequalities in women and girls, and that criminalises those who decide to live and make decisions about their health and life. At this time, it is in the hands of the judges of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to guarantee the recognition of all girls and women as persons with rights, by allowing them to exercise their rights in conditions of autonomy and freedom.
"Beatriz is the representation of the reality of many women in the region, where it is hoped that the resolution of this sentence will ensure that no woman has to experience the cruelty, uncertainty and torture that she (Beatriz) experienced."
Irma Lima, one of the representatives of the Feminist Collective for Local Development and part of the litigation team of the case before the Inter-American Court.
So what can we do?
On the other hand, Beatriz's story is an invitation to collectively reflect on the various implications that the criminalisation of the right to decide can have on the lives of girls, adolescents, and women. It is important that we identify the state of legislation on this issue in our own countries, as well as the existence - or absence - of public policies regarding access to sexual and reproductive health services, including comprehensive sexuality education, as well as the prevention of unwanted adolescent pregnancies.
We will be attentive to the ruling to be made at the end of this year, hoping that the Inter-American Court provides a ruling that brings about justice and avoids repeating the harms suffered by Beatriz, her family, and so many other women and girls in El Salvador and the region. We invite you to follow our social networks and the networks of the #BeatrizCase, so that you can be informed, and join the calls for action to ask for #JusticiaParaBeatriz.
In the time it has taken to read this article 80 girls under the age of 18 have been married
Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18